History
Triad Stage began as the dream of creating a professional not-for-profit regional theater to serve the communities of the Triad. Co-founders Preston Lane and Richard Whittington forged their artistic partnership as graduate students at the Yale School of Drama. After managing a theater in Connecticut for two years, they undertook the three-year task of opening their own theater in the heart of historic Greensboro.
In September 1999, Triad Stage purchased the former Montgomery Ward building, which had been built in 1936 and vacant for almost 40 years. Renovations commenced in the spring of 2001, transforming the five-story building into a world class theater center (now called The Pyrle Theater) complete with a 300-seat live performance space, rehearsal hall, offices, two spacious lobbies, special events areas and other audience amenities.
The Grand Opening of the theater took place in January 2002 with Tennessee Williams’ modern classic Suddenly, Last Summer. Since then, Triad Stage has produced 60 productions and has sold over 300,000 tickets.
In 2008, Triad Stage finished a second round of renovations to The Pyrle. A scene shop annex was added in the basement. The top floor underwent major construction to turn what was previously a storage center into the 80-seat Upstage Cabaret performance space, the Sloan Rehearsal Hall and the studio and office facilities of WUNC North Carolina Public Radio’s new Greensboro Bureau.
In 2011, Triad Stage purchased a 30,000 square foot building near the Greensboro Coliseum Complex to serve as the theater's new production facility, relocating its scene, costume and properties shops as well as its warehouse.
Now in its 11th anniversary season, Triad Stage has 3,250 Season Passholders and more than 400 annual donors. The theater company has received accolades on the national, state and local levels, including being named “One of the Best Regional Theaters in America” by New York’s Drama League, voted the Triad’s “Best Live Theater” by the readers of the News & Record’s GoTriad seven years in a row and “Professional Theatre of the Year” by the North Carolina Theatre Conference. Its production of Tobacco Road was listed among the “Best of 2007” by The Wall Street Journal. Triad Stage has been spotlighted in American Theatre, Stage Directions, Southern Living, Playbill.com, Our State and UNC-TV’s “North Carolina Weekend”. The American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards®, named Triad Stage "one of the top ten most promising theatres in the country" as the recipient of a 2010 National Theatre Company Grant.
Triad Stage has been further honored with the award of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Shubert Organization.
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